MSNBC Wins Online Auction for Ed Kashi Iraq Story

After a unique, four-day online auction, MSNBC has won the exclusive Internet rights for a feature on Iraqi Kurdistan by photographer Ed Kashi. The feature, prepared by multimedia producer Brian Storm, will premier on MSNBC.com on November 13.

I had a chance to preview the Kashi piece while the auction was taking place, and I can tell you it is unlike anything I’ve seen before, at least in terms of its narrative structure. The auction itself is also something of a new development in the online world.

The 12-minute feature that MSNBC will showcase grew out of work Kashi did in 2005, when he spent seven weeks documenting the daily lives of Kurdish people living in Iraq. The project, shot digitally, was featured as a cover story for National Geographic.

The piece produced by Storm uses virtually every frame that Kashi shot for the project. “It’s probably somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 frames,” Storm estimates. The frames run in order, quickly, like old-fashioned flipbook animation, to create a hybrid between still and moving pictures.

Equally innovative was the way Storm licensed the story to MSNBC. The Kashi piece was sent to online news and lifestyle Website around the globe, and an online auction was held on Storm’s Website, mediastorm.org. “It was a very streamlined process, and that allowed us to make this happen very quickly,” Storm says. The Kashi feature also opens up new avenues of storytelling in the digital age.
—David Schonauer

Comments

[Online auctions]

This is really a great story. Online auctions are the best way these days to buy the products and services.

[Danny Defreitas]

As I understand it there were only two bids in this auction. Both were from MSNBC

[Rick Smith]

Ha! If Danny is indeed right (and he's a long time MSNBC staffer, so he'd have the inside scoop) what an OVERBLOWN and OVER HYPED notion this "online auction" scheme has become.

Everyone makes Storm out to be some kind of wunderkid, when all he is a failed former MSNBC "multimedia" producer and ousted Getty official.

And then we have MSNBC apparently bidding against itself?! What a riot... the online world's "number one news site" is, at end of the day, just a fucked up dysfunctional family.

[Jay DeFoore]

Rick, Brian was actually an official at Corbis. Let's try to refrain from ad hominem attacks and talk about the real issues. While I think the online auction idea in this context is somewhat innovative, there are unfortunately far too few media outlets interested in this type of multimedia story to make the auction practical. Still, the main point as I see it is that photojournalistic storytellers like Kashi and the people who support them need more innovative ideas and experimentation, not less, because the old ways of funding this kind of work are melting away faster than the polar ice caps. While this example may not be as revolutionary as some would lead you to believe, it's a good faith effort at innovation and we can all applaud that.

[Anthony Jenkins]

Jay -- The fact is consumers just don't find long photo slideshows with dramtic audio very interesting. Funding is melting away because other than "innovators" like Mr. Storm nobody really cares for this particular form of multimedia. It's great that Storm champions these photographers and tries to help them make a living, but things like the "flip-book" effect and one person auctions are just silly.

[penis enlargement]

Three phrases should be among the most common in our daily usage. They are: Thank you, I am grateful and I appreciate.

[kimoro2003]

A highly recommended site is elfingo.com for online auctions. They are the new ebay. Many smaller sites like this offer buyers far better deals than ebay ever could. Buyser also save a ton because this site charges little or nothing depending on the day. One more reaso I like elfingo.com is because they don't take a part of the sale at all. No commissions or final value fees. A+++ http://www.elfingo.com

[art auction]

great post